Bombay roast chicken

Bombay chicken, potatoes and sauce in a cast iron skillet - from above.

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4.94 from 15 votes

An (almost) one-pot Indian-ish roast chicken dinner

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: bombay chicken, Indian-ish

Servings:

Calories: 712kcal

Author: romain | glebekitchen

Equipment

12 inch skillet or something similar - oven proof

Ingredients

3 lb chicken - a bigger chicken is nice here. Up to 4 lbs.
1 tbsp vegetable oil any neutral oil you want
3 tsp tandoori masala plus a half teaspoon to dust the chicken (See note)
1 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder plus a half teaspoon to dust the chicken
1 tsp fenugreek seed
1 cup diced tomatoes about 1 large tomato
1 cup onion about 1 medium onion, finely diced
400 ml coconut milk 1 400ml can
1 1/2 tbsp garlic ginger paste
1 lb potatoes small new potatoes
140 grams baby spinach a little over four ounces. Roughly chopped.
1/2 tsp kosher salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Do your prep

Combine 1/2 tsp tandoori masala and 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder.
Parboil the potatoes in well salted water. Just toss them in once the water comes to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes.
Chop the tomatoes and onions. You want the tomato cut into about a 1/4 inch dice. The onions should be finely diced (maybe 1/8 of an inch dice).
Chop the spinach. You are looking for a rough chop here. Somewhere that gets you pieces that are about 1/3 of a leaf each. You don't need to be perfect here. That's what a rough chop is.

Roast the chicken

Preheat your oven to 375F. If you have a convection oven use convect mode. Chicken skin roasts up best when using convection. Think air fryer but bigger. That's what a convection oven is.
Pre-heat your skillet. A hot pan helps keep the chicken from sticking. That's a life tip - not specific to this recipe.

Prep the chicken

Drizzle about a tablespoon of a neutral oil (e.g. canola oil) over the chicken. Rub the oil all over the chicken. Your hands work well here.
Salt the chicken liberally. When I say liberally I mean it.
Dust the chicken with the tandoori masala/kashmiri chili powder mixture. You want a light coating all over the bird.
A small, fine sieve works great for this bit. Put the tandoori masala/kashmiri chili powder mix in the sieve. Hold over the chicken and tap the side of the sieve with a spoon. Think dusting a cake with confectioner's sugar.
Alternately you can use a spice or salt shaker. Up to you but you need to find a way to dust the chicken with spice. Your fingers will not work here. Trust me. I tried.
Place the chicken in the pre-heated skillet and place it in the oven.
Roast for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Set the pan down and baste the chicken with the accumulated fat. It helps to tilt the pan (watch out - it is hot) and use a spoon.
Return the chicken to the oven and roast for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, baste as before and add the potatoes. This is why you need a 12 inch skillet. Make sure the potatoes get coated with chicken fat. Yes - chicken fat roasted potatoes. You're welcome.
Return the chicken and potatoes to the oven and roast until the internal temperature of the chicken hits 160F in the breast and 175F in the thigh. If you don't have a way to measure internal temperature get an instant read thermometer. I use mine every day. I don't like guessing.
Once you've hit the target internal temperature, remove the chicken and potatoes from the pan and set aside. Tent the chicken loosely with foil. It's time to make the sauce.

Make the coconut curry sauce

Spoon off all but about 3 tablespoons of the chicken fat from the pan. Be careful not to remove the fond and juices (the fat is clear - the juices are opaque).
Place the skillet over medium heat. Add the onions. Cook until they start to brown. This should take around 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic ginger paste. Fry, stirring constantly until it stops sputtering. That usually takes about a minute.
Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the fenugreek seed and stir. Cook about 30 seconds.
Add the 3 tsp (yes I know - that's one tablespoon) tandoor masala, 1 and 1/2 tsp of kashmiri chili powder and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
Look at your pan. You will need some oil to fry the spices. A dry pan is a dangerous pan at this point. If it looks dry add a bit more oil. Toss in the tandoori masala/kashmiri chili/ salt mix, stir to thoroughly combine the spices and oil and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30-45 seconds.
Add the tomatoes and stir. Cook the resulting tomato, onion masala until the tomatoes start to break down. This should take about 5 minutes.
Add the coconut milk. Bring to a lively simmer and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the chopped baby spinach. Stir into the sauce and cook until the spinach is fully wilted.
Return the potatoes to the pot and simmer until the potatoes are warmed through.
To serve nap the plate or large bowl with a little sauce, place a few potatoes in the middle of plate and top with chicken.

Notes

This recipe was developed using the glebekitchen tandoori masala. You can use a commercial tandoori masala for this recipe but watch the salt. Some brands are up to 50 percent salt. This dish will be inedible if you use a brand with any appreciable amount of salt. Just be careful...

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